2025 Free Agent Preview: Offensive Line

As for the interior offensive line, don’t sleep on the Patriots hole at left guard and uncertainty at center. Starting at guard, standout OL Mike Onwenu returns to play right guard, his natural spot. Hopefully, being locked into right guard will lead to a bounce-back season for Onwenu. However, on the left side, the Pats have recent draft picks Cole Strange, Layden Robinson, and Sidy Sow under contract. Ideally, you’d like to think they could find a starter out of that group, but the trio all drafted inside the top 120 picks over the last three drafts aren’t proven starters yet.

After the Chiefs franchise tagged standout guard Trey Smith the top guards available are Will Fries, Teven Jenkins, Mekhi Becton, Patrick Mekari, and Kevin Zeitler. Jenkins was a college tackle who moved inside to left guard and could command a lucrative contract in the $13 million range, meaning the Pats would have over $30 million invested in guards. Still, Jenkins is a great football player who would form a formidable interior with Andrews and Onwenu.

If the price is too high for Jenkins, Zeitler and Mekari are intriguing options. Despite being 35 years old, Zeitler can still ball, posting an 86.8 PFF grade last year in Detroit. Zeitler would fit the Commanders model of adding several above-average starters to increase the talent floor on the roster, while he’s an excellent mentor to their younger guards. Mekari had a down year for Baltimore last season, but has experience playing guard and tackle on the left and right sides. That versatility would allow New England to plug him in anywhere.

From this perspective, an ideal five-man combination would look like this for the Patriots offensive line: Stanley/Robinson-Zeitler/Mekari-Andrews-Onwenu-Wallace+Top-100 pick. New England ideally comes away from free agency with multiple starting-caliber offensive linemen, so they don’t need to reach on O-Line with the fourth-overall pick. That means adding a left tackle, right tackle, and left guard to have reliable options in those spots.

The Patriots will likely attack the offensive line from all angles this offseason, aiming to protect the franchise, QB Drake Maye, significantly better than they did in his rookie season. Although finding elite tackle play in free agency is challenging, New England can improve its talent floor with the veteran options available. Then, they can continue to add in the draft. One would expect a complete overhaul by Vrabel and Wolf along the offensive line.